Grammarist is a professional online English grammar dictionary, that provides a variety of grammatical tools, rules and tips in order to improve your grammar and to help you distinguish between commonly misspelled words.

Colloquialisms

Some of the most colorful and entertaining ways to use the English language are colloquialisms. A colloquialism is a word, phrase or language convention used in informal English. A colloquialism is usually used by English speakers in a certain geographic area or English speakers of a certain dialect. Colloquialisms are not usually used in formal writing, though they are often used in literature to create a certain effect or to flesh out a character. Mark Twain was a master of using colloquialisms in his characters’ dialogue. A colloquialism may be a single word such as ain’t, a phrase such as shake a stick at, or an aphorism such as I don’t care what you call me as long as you call me for supper. While a colloquialism may use regional slang words, it differs from slang in that it is used and understood by people of all ages, occupations and economic classes in a particular region. Colloquialisms offer great insight into the interests, problems and worries of the people of who use those terms. With the advent of mass media, colloquialisms have gained a wider audience and often a wider use than they may have had in the past.